Chapter 1

• Where am I?
• Lee turned around in a circle on the same spot as she looked around, searching for something familiar but all she could see was fog of a misty early morning. She raised her hands to her face. She could see that. She looked down to the ground. She couldn’t see her feet, but she could feel the solid ground beneath them.
• Where exactly am I? She wondered, her heartbeat echoing loudly in her ears.
• Don’t panic. Take deep breathes. She’d barely taken one deep draw in when the fog in front of her began to part. Startled, she took a step back. She looked to her right, then to her left and finally behind her. Thick mist surrounded her, only the front that seemed to be opening up. What was she to do? If she was to leave this unknown place, she had to move and the only path open to her was ahead.
• Gathering all her courage, Lee took one step into the opening. The fog parted for her. She took another step, and the path opened wider. With each step forward she took, the cloudy mist opened further, leading her to—to what? Her feet froze under her before she could take another step. Where exactly was she going, where exactly was she being forced to go?
• Just keep moving, a little voice in her head said. What other choice did she have? Hands fisted at her sides, Lee continued her pursuit, not bothering to try and see through the fog around her. She noticed it the path only opened when she forged ahead. Despite the fear crawling up her back, patience was what she had to hold on to. That and courage.
• Her foot bumped into something, and she stumbled. Quickly, with her arms stretched out she fought to remain on her feet. The last thing she wanted was to fall and get lost in this fog that didn’t allow even the slightest light through. She let out a breath of relief once she gained her footing. Knowing she wouldn’t be able to see a thing, she looked down for the hell of it. It was a step. For the first time, she could see the ground and it was a step. Was she going up a stairway? Gingerly, she lifted her foot and landed on it. The moment she did, the fog parted to reveal two more steps. She took them both, placing both feet on the topmost.
• What was that? At the landing, the fog parted even more, and she could see something. It was brown and looked like… her heart leaped in her chest. Is that a door?
• Her feet moving quicker under her, Lee rushed to it, relieved that she would finally be out of the fog. She came to a step right in front of it, a smile on her face as she confirmed her hopeful suspicions. It was a door! Finally, she could get out of this horror movie setting. She reached for the doorknob and something suddenly hit her.
• Why did this look familiar? She wondered as her eyes roamed over the brown wooden door with a bronze knocker and matching handle. Where have I see this before?
• Something about the familiarity made her heart beat a little faster. This, she thought, shaking her head side to side, something wasn’t right.
• The fingers of her raised hand curled into her palm, suddenly too afraid to see what lay behind the door.
• Lee jumped with a small scream at the roar that rent the air. She looked around her and whined with frustration. She couldn’t see anything through the fog. Worse, it seemed to be thickening, pushing her forward towards the door. She turned to face the door with apprehension. What choice did she have? With shaking hands, she reached for the doorknob again. With a spurt of courage, she pushed it open. The door swung open revealing the inside of a house. Daring not to take a step in yet, Lee peeked in and looked around. It looked normal besides the nagging sense of familiarity. Where exactly was she? Why did her heartbeat so hard? Why was she so afraid to go in?
• “Mommy.”
• A child like cry echoed in the empty room. She wasn’t alone. There was a child in there and she was scared. Lee could hear it in her cry for her mother. Should she go in? She couldn’t not go in. There was a child in there and she was probably alone.
• Shaking off the fear with a desperate whine, Lee rushed in, giving no room for second thoughts. With each step she took, the weight of feat grew tightening around her chest like a vice. She raised her hand to her tightening throat. She needed to get out of this place before she suffocated to death. Something bad was going to happen, she just knew it, just as she knew she had been in that house before. She needed to find that little girl and find a way out of that place.
• Just ahead of her, a little girl, with her back to Lee appeared. Relieved she rushed to her. Kneeling down beside her, she placed her hands on the little girl’s shoulders and said, “Hi sweetheart. What are you doing here alone?”
• Lee noticed how shaky her voice was, despite how chirper she tried to sound. Hopefully the little girl hadn’t noticed. But the girl didn’t respond, she didn’t even turn to face Lee. It didn’t seem like she’d even heard Lee speaking. Lee moved to crouch in front of her. The little girl’s cheeks were wet with tears, her lips her turned down in a shaky frown and her wet eyes stared unblinkingly ahead. Lee turned to see what she was fixated on.
• A scream lodged in her throat at what she saw. Red splutters covered the walls of the living room. Blood. How she knew it was blood, she couldn’t say but she was sure beyond a doubt it was blood.
• “Daddy.” The little girl cried behind her. Lee turned to her when her cries grew to wails. She held her arm up as she pointed out, fresh tears spilling out of her tightly clenched shut eyes.
• Lee followed the direction and her heart stop beating for a moment. Laying against the wall was a man covered in blood. He stared in their direction, tears spilling out of his eyes, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. His lips were moving, he was saying something, but she couldn’t make it out. All she could hear was gargling sounds. Dear god, if that man was this little girl’s father, she shouldn’t see him like this. No child should see their parent like this.
• “Sweetheart,” Lee began, her voice choked with tears that filled her eyes. She turned to face the little girl, but she was gone. She quickly vaulted up to her feet and frantically searched around her. Where had she gone? Her breathes came faster as she cried, hating how confused and scared she was. What the hell was going on?
• “M—Meri—lee.” The strained muffled voice filled the room.
• Lee turned to the man. He held his hand out to her. Lee rushed to him, taking his hand in hers. “It’s okay, I’ll find her. I promise.”
• His hand tightened around hers. She could see the fear in his eyes as he stared at her. His lips parted to speak but a gush of blood came out instead. Lee cried harder, as a dark shadow fell over her. She wanted out of this messed up place. She didn’t want to be here a moment longer, but she couldn’t leave him alone.
• “Me—ri—rilee. Ru—ru—n.” He stuttered, as he stared into her eyes. His eyes were full of desperation and pain. His daughter. She needed to find—
• She gasped, her entire body going rigid. Her vision blurred with fresh tears; she opened her mouth to speak but only a strangled sound came out. Lee fell backwards at the shove. He’d pushed her and it looked like it took all his remaining strength to do so.
• “Run!” he choked out then looked up.
• She followed his line of vision and screamed as she scrambled backwards. There, standing at over six feet was what looked like a large dog. No, it was a wolf. She was sure of it. It had blood around its mouth. As he snarled, stalking towards her, its mouth drew back, exposing bloodied teeth.
• “Daddy,” Lee cried as she tried to quickly crawl backwards on her hands, pushing back with the heels of her feet.
• The wolf’s head lowered as it prepared to lunge at her.
• “Daddy!” Lee screamed again as she tried to quicken her movements. Her hand suddenly slipped, and she fell backwards, flat on her back.
• The wolf leaped. With a scream on her lips, Lee raised her hands to shield herself.
• “Lee! Lee!”
• Lee suddenly came awake to a scream ringing in her ears. Arms were wrapped around her with soft cooing voices in her ears.
• “It was just a dream. You’re okay.”
• Lee looked around then as she fought for breath. She was in her room, in her bed. She wasn’t alone. She was in no danger, there was no wolf. It was just a nightmare, another nightmare.
• But why, why didn’t it feel like a nightmare?